Category Archives: Daily Highlights

FilmGordon Radio talks to Jenny Slate, star of the controversial new comedy Obvious Child. Slate has also appeared in Parks and Recreation and Bob‘s Burgers, as well as director Gillian Robespierre.

Of the movie, which focuses on abortion, they say that they “wanted to show a really funny, relatable leading lady on the big screen… we wanted somebody in a romantic comedy to be actually funny, empathetic, honest, to look and feel like yourself… it’s seeking authenticity in a character.”

Move Geeks United talks about Michael Bay’s new Transformers: Age of Extinction. As the critics say, “never is the divide between critics and audiences more apparent than when a Transformers movie comes out. This is definitely the worst-reviewed movie of the year and also the highest-grossing.”

They admit that Bay “knows how to assemble striking images” but criticize him for being “a salesman” who sacrifices emotion and humanity in favor of advertisement and product placement. There are also some more direct indictments: “How do you have all that [budget] at your disposal,” they ask, “and make something this boring?”

Eddie Huang talks to emcee Jin, who made his name on BET’s 106 & Park participating in Freestyle Fridays, wherein he won seven consecutive freestyle rap battles. Huang was a fan of the show in college.

Jin, although he’s been divorced from freestyle battling for a while, saying that he’s “still in tune in terms of following the sport.” He talks about 106 & Park and how important it was to battling, saying that, when he was active, “it was a completely different culture… everyone who was into that culture was like, yo, we gotta watch that.”

FilmGordon Radio talks to Ice Cube, known for his work in pioneering hip-hop group N.W.A. and solo acting and rapping careers. Ice Cube appears in the new comedy 22 Jump Street. He says that their goal was “to try to make a whole new movie that stands on its own… the mistake that some people make with sequels is to rely too much on the first movie… you don’t want that.” Of his character, a parodical police chief figure, Cube says that “he’s so cliche… over the top, what you’re used to seeing kind of taken to ten”.

Cinema Royale talks about How to Train Your Dragon 2, the sequel to the 2010 Dreamworks animated movie. The movie stars Jay Baruchel and Gerard Butler.

They say that the movie feels more grown-up than its predecessor, saying that “typical kiddie movie,” “the kids who watched that movie four years ago aren’t the same age; they’re all grown up, their tastes are more refined… they don’t want that same kind of kiddie slapstick comedy… it felt a little more mature.”

Dean talks about the process of making the movie, saying that “about two years ago I had the script, and we had not many prospects… we were very passionate about this movie and we didn’t have any idea of how we were going to do it.” They ended up being to raise a budget through a grassroots campaign, comparing the process of fundraising itself to that of making a movie.

Betty Jo Tucker talks about Maleficient, the new movie starring Angelina Jolie as the titular Sleeping Beauty villain. The critics say that it’s “magnificent,” as well as having “the best background score so far this year.” They concede that it “might not fit right with fairy tale purists,” but nonetheless “really enjoyed this new approach and the surprises that it contained.” Although there was “some confusion” about certain plot points,” everything else worked.”

FilmGordon Radio talks to actor and musician Jamie Foxx. Foxx won an Academy Award for his performance in Ray and is also known for his roles in Django Unchained and Collateral, and recently appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Foxx talks about potentially reprising his role as the villain Electro in Spider-Man, saying that he’s “excited about the opportunity… when they bring Electro back… I want to see him when he’s perfected his energy and perfected his craft.” He says that he spent four hours in makeup daily, saying that it’s worth it for the “rockstar status… the way they make Electro look.”